About Me

Buford C. Terrell
Controlled substances laws and their consequences have been the center of my professional life for over fifteen years. I host a public interest television program in Houston, “Drugs, Crime, and Politics” , produced by the Drug Policy forum of Texas, and have done so for most of its ten-year history. Before my retirement, I taught a seminar, “Controlled Substances Law” for many years at South Texas College of Law.
In this blog I intend to explore the features and consequences of those laws, especially the unintended consequences, and look at the need for, and possibility of, changing them. Don’t expect a lot of breaking news or current events, although there will be some. My approach will be more historical and theoretical. I hope to get a lot of criticism – good, bad, and otherwise – and to start some good, heated discussions.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Mr. Spock and Homer Simpson

Mr.
Spock and Homer Simpson

In The Upside of Irrationality, social
economist Dan Ariely points out that society contains both Mr. Spock and Homer
Simpson.Spock and Homer are, of course,
both fictional.Mr. Spock is the
hyperlogical, nonemotional alien in Star
Trek.The drama around him springs
from his inability to understand the emotional drives of the humans around him
and their failure to accept his reasoned conclusions.Homer Simpson, the father on The Simpsons, is all emotion and
impulse.He is neither learned nor
logical.His flighty impulsiveness and
lack of foresight are the sources of much of the show’s comedy.

Many
intangible products are Spockian.Computer programs are all logic and algorithms.Tangible products tend to be Homerish.Pants are stain resistant and may have a fifty-inch
waistband.However, many products are a
mixture.Cars have engines and
drivetrains designed by logical engineers; but they are sold to Homers, who
need the lap belts and airbags, by sex appeal.As the car example suggests, people are all mixtures of Spock and Homer
in varying degrees (and in everyone, that ratio changes from minute to minute).

The
world of government and politics is also a mixture of the two.Government is expected to be Spockian, with
rational rules designed to achieve reasonable ends (unfortunately by using
staffs that include many Homers).But
those reasonable rules are supposed to be enacted by Congress – largely composed
of Homers and elected by means of utterly Homeresque election campaigns.

Political
debates, including those on drug reform, show this same Spock versus Homer
conflict.However, they can be quite
asymmetric.Those proposing change or
reform can be so Spockian that they sound like a graduate school seminar.They have numbers and statistics, usually
accompanied by charts and graphs.They
speak of goals and make projections.They may even bring in experts, complete with jargon-laced theories.Their audiences are soon asleep.

The
defenders of the status quo, on the other hand, often wax Homeric.They spread fear, promise paradise, bemoan
degeneracy, and warn of slippery slopes (just imagine Homer on a snow
board).Sometimes they even bring
donuts. When they use facts, those are outdated, cherry-picked, or out of
context.Their sound bites are carefully
honed to fit on the evening news.Ironically, these Homerish deliveries are frequently crafted by Spockian
deliberation.

The
result of this difference in argument style is that Homers, and those catering
to Homers, usually win in public forums and political arenas.If Spocks want their carefully derived plans
to be adopted, they must coolly apply their logic to the art of persuasion.

As
far as drug laws are concerned, first, use lots of concrete examples of both
individuals hurt by drug laws or helped by drug – put a human face on it.Then counter fears with hopes: street corners
without drug dealers and violence, prisons replaced with college campuses, police
forces without snitches or SWAT teams, derelicts replaced by productive
citizens.Highlight current costs and
compare to future savings.

And
don’t forget the donuts.

Drug
law reformers must continue to apply Spockian methods to prove both the need
for change and what changes would be most beneficial, but they must work with
Homerish desires and impulses to make it so.Thank Vulcan and act Springfield.

(P.S.: Pick up one of Dan Ariely’s books
and give it a read.It will enlighten,
educate, and entertain you.They are truly
Spockian with a Homerish flair.Find out
what you do every day and why you do it and why your friends do the silly
things they do.)